Savan Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 So I know its a bit weird to post a build log of a car on a tech forum, but there are a few floating around here, so I figured I may as well post mine. I have recently come into possession of a free 1981 Toyota Celica Supra. Pt 1. The Acquisition A friend of mine got a hold of me at around 12:15 am about a month and a half ago and said "Hey, I know a guy in Chicago who just got a new car, and is giving away his old one. I know you've been looking for a car that's more interesting than your Alero and is a manual. It runs fine, but it needs a new clutch. We can probably do that ourselves. Let me know quick if you want it or not, because other people are interested in it as well." Less than 12 hours later, we were hooking up a car trailer and on the road for the 300 mile drive from where I live in Michigan to Chicago. Then I got the bright idea to set the GPS to shortest distance to save on gas (Driving a 5.8L Magnum Durango isn't exactly cheap gas wise. Especially around $4.20 a gallon). That was the worst ride I've ever had. We went through 6 towns, 3 ghettos and 200 miles of back roads before I said screw it and set it to take us back to the highway. So we finally make it to Chicago around 8pm and find the car sitting in the parking lot of a 7-11 and a muffler shop. Then comes the ordeal of loading it onto the trailer... The trailer had a winch, but it didn't work. So we had to get it on using a ratchet strap, a couple of wheel chocks and bruit strength. It was not fun. It took 3 people almost a 2 hours to get it onto the trailer, but we managed to get it on and secured. Thats the guy who gave the car to me ^ We then got pizza with a friend of my friend (Deep dish of course), and by that point it was around 1 am, so the guy who gave me the car let us crash at his apartment for the night. The next morning we secured all the straps and set out. Some jerk decided to tail gate me the whole way... But we managed to get it back to my house in one piece Pt 2 Its ALIVE... Coming Soon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savan Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Pt. 2 Its ALIVE After getting it home. We set to figuring how to get the transmission out. My buddy had changed a clutch in a W50 transmission before... but it was on an engine that had already been pulled from a car. So we looked under the hood to see where all the trans bolts were. Not entirely sure why, but we took the air intake off and managed to break 3 of 4 rusted hose clamps in the process (currently secured with zip ties... need to remedy that) We were glad to discover that the trans bolts were all accessible from under the car with a swivel socket and a long extension. After locating the trans bolts we disconnected the drive shaft We called in some extra muscle to help us get the trans in and out. Here's the old clutch with NO friction material left on it Judging by the TEQ logo its the factory clutch. A little surprised it lasted 32 years and 150,000 ish miles Old Vs. New comparison New clutch in place Re-Installing the trans was a bitch and a half to get the bolt holes to line up properly. We couldn't get it positioned properly on the jack and ended up bench pressing it into place. Now that it finally moved under its own power we decided to do some "Hektik Skids" as the kids say. We threw some water on it and got some pictures where we did the donuts. There was a ramp up from the parking lot to a square cement pad that was near some train tracks that run past. No idea what it was meant for. (I think its the entrance to a superhero's secret base or something) but we used it for a mini photo shoot. When we got back from that we found out that there was a car show going on at a local dealership, so we rushed over. It was in full swing when we got there, so finding a spot to park was insane and one of the ladies who worked there told us we could park behind the building... we said screw that and found a nice spot to park. Nose to nose with a Viper. The guy who owned the viper was super cool and we got more than a few lookers. Some people were trying to ignore us, cuz most of the show was American Muscle etc. But we got a good bit of love too. All in all it was pretty good for my first "show car" Pt. 3 Shifter Boot-Ception and Fixing the Ride... Coming Soon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savan Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Pt. 3 Shifter Boot-Ception and Fixing the Ride... Coming Soon So I got tired of the shifter boot being made out of an Ugg boot, so I decided to remedy the situation. I went to the craft store and got some burgundy vinyl. Problem was that though the car originally had a burgundy interior, over time it has darkened. Its more of a Merlot now. So I went looking for shoe polish to darken the vinyl and was told that I should just get some vinyl dye. So back to the craft store I went and picked up some brown dye. (if you ever need to dye vinyl, iDyePolly worked well for me) Doing some test swatches (The stuff looks like liquid black death and smells like it too) Dying all the pieces Original vs Dyed shades Sewing it all together (Took like 8 hours to do) Before After I decided to keep the Ugg boot under the new cover to help keep it in place... its shifter boot-ception Here's all the shiny new parts strewn out along the driveway Parts list: New shocks New struts Valve cover gasket New distributor cap New distributor rotor New plug wires New plugs New wiper blades Transmission output gasket (Not installed yet) Differential input gasket (Not installed yet) New oil New filter Engine de-gunker New front brake pads New front driver side upper break hose (Old had a crack from dry rot) (Not installed yet (Couldn't get the old one off)) New inner & outer tie rod ends New tie rod adjuster sleeves New pitman arm New idler arm Taking out the old plugs. Judging by the markings on the plugs we are pretty sure that like the clutch that these are original factory plugs with ~150,000 miles on them. Also we couldn't get 3 of them out. They would turn a little then jamb up. And we didn't want to wrench on them too hard cuz the head is aluminum and we might pull the threads out. The engine had A LOT of crud on it from the leaking valve cover. Which we fixed and checked the lifter gap while we were at it Changed the front brake pads Pulled the front strut towers out and found the outer tubes filled with oil (Explains why they didn't absorb any shocks) Changed the tie rods and the idler arm (Couldn't get the pitman arm off. Need to get a puller) Here is one of the back shocks just for reference While we were changing the oil I decided to drop the oil pan to clean it out. It was held in by 28 bolts and you had to remove part of the transmission crossmember to get to some of them. I was down to 4 bolts remaining when someone had the bright idea to ask if we had a new oil pan gasket. I cried quietly to myself for a minute and started putting all the bolts back in. After all that she now handles excellent. Its a night and day improvement. Pt. 4 The AC Debacle... Coming Soon Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bishop245 Posted July 11, 2013 Posted July 11, 2013 Well it don't look bad since it's that old. Hope you enjoy it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrewr05 Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 To be honest it is absolutely hideous, but I effing love it!haha Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waco Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 I don't think anyone can argue with a free car...especially not a somewhat-classic Supra! RWD, simple parts, easy to turbo... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 Supras are fun...I helped my younger cousin build one before he left for the military. We put a clutch in his as well and it wasnt bad at all. I think it took me like 2 hours. Funny part was... one day somehow a dumpster got dropped on the back half and smashed it good. He found a front wrecked Supra and asked me if I could take two cars and make one.... of coarse I did I cut the two in half and welded them back together and we did the body work. You could not tell the car was ever wrecked and he drove it another 5 years... good doughnut machine....lol twist the wheel put it in 2nd gear rev it up and dump the clutch and hold on...lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted July 12, 2013 Posted July 12, 2013 Looks like fun, get that clutch in it and let us know how it goes. Can't beat that price!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Savan Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 Pt 2 Posetd, with larger pics this time Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stonerboy779 Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 You still got a bit of body work and.cleaning to go before it can really be a show car haha but nicely done. Can't wait to see more, maybe some more "Hektik Skids" too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 Yes!! Keep up the good progress!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_bowtie Posted July 13, 2013 Posted July 13, 2013 I say 4 link the rear with some fatties and then rebuild the engine and add one or two of those shiny hair dryer thingies Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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